Background

For over 15 years, IT Lab has provided William Turner & Son’s IT platform and ERP software alongside a full support service. This long-standing and trusted partnership has forged a reliable and respected relationship between both parties.

As part of ongoing strategic engagement, both William Turner and IT Lab acknowledged that the system that had served well for so long was now limiting the growth of the business. The school and corporate wear supplier was suffering from a distinct lack of reporting capabilities and visibility of its production capacity, including important turnaround time information.

William Turner required a system which could be seamlessly integrated and scale with the company to facilitate and support its ever-increasing growth.

William Turner & Son was suffering from the lack of reporting capabilities and visibility of production capacity

“While Pegasus Opera II had served us well, we had organically outgrown the system. Having worked with IT Lab for so many years, we had complete confidence in its ability to identify Microsoft Dynamics as the right software for us to support our company as it continues on its rapid growth trajectory.”

Daniel Turner, Managing Director, William Turner & Son

The Client

William Turner & Son is a family-run business with its headquarters based in Stockport, Manchester. There are further production facilities in Skipton, Colne and a dedicated facility in China which works exclusively for the business.

The corporate and schoolwear specialists produce large volumes of standard, bespoke and special orders which are supplied to both retailers and manufacturers.

It is critical that communication across the entire business is clear as the company processes large volumes of orders which are vastly different each week. In order to ensure that the customer benefits from the very highest level of service, their data which is integral to running a smooth operation must be freely accessed by all.

It is critical that communication across the entire business is clear

The Challenge

Daniel Turner, Managing Director, William Turner & Son

While William Turner’s experience with its previous system, Pegasus Opera II, had been positive, the accelerating growth of the company meant that it had simply outgrown the platform’s capabilities. They now required a solution which could add more flexibility and scope to the business.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing William Turner was the lack of reporting tools that were available to them. Due to the company’s very customisable and personalised production process, full visibility of all orders, data, and stock levels is critical in ensuring that day-to-day operations run smoothly. This lack of reporting was limiting the business decisions that William Turner could make, with access to margin figures all but non-existent.

The existing system was no longer suitable to support the scale of production. Special orders could not run through Pegasus as each of these orders were completely bespoke, with no reserved stock against which it could supply and make decisions towards its future procurement needs. William Turner was having to manually update a spreadsheet of data to track of these special orders, which then became outdated each week.

Pegasus also could not provide the production scheduling capability that William Turner desperately needed, which was resulting in orders being placed without clarity of turnaround times. Members of staff were forced to work reactively, rather than proactively, to placate customers expecting orders within a timeframe that could not be fulfilled.

Fundamental to William Turner’s decision to move away from Pegasus was the company’s focus on delivering its customers with the highest level of customer service.

The Service

When William Turner decided the time was right to consider an alternative to Pegasus it placed its complete confidence in IT Lab to identify the ideal solution based on its long-standing relationship as William Turner’s go-to trusted partner.

This partnership of many years meant that IT Lab truly understood William Turner’s business from inside and out, and following a consultative process advised that the ideal solution that was would be suitable for the company’s current needs was Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

IT Lab recommended NAV for its adaptability, ability to integrate with other software and multi-device access, which would provide William Turner with the support it needed continue its anticipated growth trajectory.

IT Lab fully implemented and seamlessly integrated the new system across William Turner’s three locations, with minimal disruption to day-to-day activities.

The Outcome

The first phase of the platform’s implementation went live in February 2016. William Turner is quickly seeing the results of its increased reporting capabilities and unhindered access to data.

The new NAV system means that William Turner now has information at its fingertips, with access to real-time accurate data on handheld devices across all three locations, and full visibility of levels of stock, margin figures and future procurement needs.

This accessibility has significantly eased the production process, with William Turner now able to make accurate and informed decisions for the business.

Ultimately, the increased capabilities of the new system will lead to improved customer service, greater client retention and more opportunities for William Turner.

However, the software rollout is not stopping there. The adaptability of NAV means that a second phase will soon be implemented. This will allow William Turner to link new electronic data interchange (EDI) and improve its online customer ordering functionality. The scheduled long-term rollout will see NAV integrated into every area of William Turner’s production.

Ultimately, the increased capabilities of the new system will lead to improved customer service, greater client retention and more opportunities especially as William Turner begin to implement the second phase.